Test-retest reliability of dominic anxiety and depression items among young children

Assessing anxiety and depressive symptoms through direct interviewing of yo ung children has been found to be particularly difficult utilizing standard interview methods. Test-retest reliability of selected anxiety and depress ion items from the revised Dominic (Valla, Bergeron, Bidaut-Russell, St-Geo rges, & Gaudet, 1997), a cartoon-based questionnaire based on DSM diagnosti c criteria, was investigated among two geographically diverse samples (Los Angeles and St. Louis; N = 37). Overall, kappas were higher for the anxiety items than for the depression items. In both cities the sample included cl inic and non-clinic cases of African-American, Hispanic/Latino, and Caucasi an children age 6-8; kappas for the anxiety and depression items were highe r among the clinic cases than for the community cases. Given the need for p sychometrically sound measures for culturally diverse samples of children, this initial report suggests that the use of selected Dominic items holds p romise as a cartoon-based assessment of young children.